Wheel Bearings Maintenance and Care.
The most important trailer maintenance item has to be wheel bearings. Neglected wheel bearing maintenance will most likely leave you stranded with costly damage to your trailer! Poorly maintained wheel ends will overheat due to the lack of fresh grease and can actually catch on fire!
Wheel bearings should be cleaned and re-greased or replaced Every Year. 2 years at the absolute most.
It's amazing that bearings are the most over-looked item on a trailer. A lot of people think that since they don't use their trailer much, the bearings should be o.k. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bearing grease will break down and bearings will rust from lack of use.
After Market Buddy Bearings: True "Buddy Bearings" that are installed at the factory are installed on a hollow axle. That hollow axle allows the grease to squeeze through to two small holes where the two bearings are. These after market buddy bearings that you remove the dust cap and place the new cap with a grease fitting on the end, are absolutely useless. You pack the new piece you just put on full of grease, but no grease ever finds it's way to the bearings.
Most travel trailers and cargo trailers have "Dexter" axles on them. Check your package of owners manuals, there should be a seperate owners manual for your axles. Here is a link to Dexter's Web Site
Wheels & Tires: Care & Maintenance Tires are like bearings, the more they are used, the less likely you are to have trouble with them. Most people assume trailer tires are like car tires. They are not. They typically have more plies, can carry a much heavier load, and typically have a normal pressure of about 50 pounds per square inch. Your tire pressures should be on a sticker, usually next to the Vin # tag on the left front of the trailer. The biggest enemy of tires is the sun. Whenever possible, try to keep your tires out of direct sun-light, with a cover, or in a shady spot. Try to avoid parking your tires on the grass. Put them on boards or concrete paver pads. If you use boards, DO NOT use pressure treated boards. The chemicals can eat the tires. You can also protect from the elements using a uv protectorate tire shine product, available in most stores. Just look for something that mentions the fact the product protects from UV.
Tire Wear. If your sidewalls are cracked, crazed, or you see any deformations to the smooth surface, you are in imminant danger of a tire blow out. It's not a question of if, it's a question of when. Get new tires, take care of them as prescibed above, and they should last 6 to 10 years. The other type of tire wear is tread wear. If you have a tire or multiple tires that have no tread in the middle, but plenty of tread on the side, then those tires have been running with the air pressure too high. Similarily, if you have tread damage on both edges but good tread in the middle, those tires have been running with the pressure too low. If you have tread damage on either the inside or outside of the tire, but no damage to the other edge of the tire, this shows you tire has been riding at an angle, and you have a suspension problem, or worse, a bearing set that is loose. This would need looked into right away.
At NC RV Solutions, when we pull the wheels and bearings, we look at everything. We look for damage to tire, rim, hub assembly, lugs, brake pads, magnets,springs, adjusters, axle weld, etc. We charge 50 dollars per wheel which includes new seals. We adjust the brakes for maximum stopping power and we lubricate all moving parts of brakes and suspension. We give you the peace of mind that all your trips should be un-eventfull. Even if you want to watch us do your bearings and then do it yourself next time, we're o.k. with that. Just let us know.
If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment, email us at danhellier@aol.com or call at 919-522-6731